Health News
- Hospitals Are Not Reporting Cases Of Harm To Patients; Electronic Health Records May Be Key To Solving The Problem
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News Hospitals aren't reporting cases in which medical care harmed a patient, making it difficult for providers to identify problems and fix them, according to a report to be released by the U.S. Department of...
- Expect More Hospital Mergers Across The Country, Some With Unlikely Partners, Moody's Investors Service Report Predicts
Reflecting several hospital mergers that have already taken place in Kentucky, a new report from Moody's Investors Service predicts hospitals will continue to band together across the country as they respond to changes in health care. "The difficult...
- Electronic Patient Records May Not Save Money, Study Finds; Critics Question Methodology
Though officials tout otherwise, a study has found electronic health records do not cut costs "and may actually encourage doctors to order expensive tests more often," reports Steve Lohr for The New York Times. (Photo by Keith Srakocic for The Associated...
- Companies Partner To Accelerate Adoption Of Electronic Health Records In Rural Hospitals
Anthelio, a health information-technology support company, and Heartland, a hospital information-systems vendor, have partnered to speed up implementation of electronic health records at rural hospitals so the facilities can get federal incentives, reports...
- Electronic Health Records Are Helping Nurses Provide Better Care, Big Study Finds
Electronic health records are helping nurses get better health outcomes and are improving nursing care, the first big study on the subject has found. The study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing involved 16,000 nurses at 316...
Health News
Report: Electronic health records haven't cut health costs
The conversion to electronic health records isn't producing savings in health-care costs predicted by a 2005 report, and it's had mixed results in improving efficiency and patient care, according to a RAND Corporation report. The company's 2005 predictions helped drive growth in the EHR industry and encourage billions of dollars in subsidies from the federal government to hospitals and doctors to implement such systems, Reed Abelson and Julie Creswell of The New York Times report.
The 2005 report predicted that widespread use of EHRs could save the U.S. health care system at least $81 billion a year. "But evidence of significant savings is scant, and there is increasing concern that electronic records have actually added to costs by making it easier to bill more for some services," Abelson and Creswell write. Health care costs have risen $800 billion since the 2005 report, according to federal data.
Authors of the new report, published in this month's issue of Health Affairs, said they didn't attach dollar amounts to how much electronic record keeping has helped or hurt efforts to reduce costs. "But the firm's acknowledgement that its earlier analysis was overly optimistic adds to a chorus of concern about the cost of the new systems and the haste with which they have been adopted," Abelson and Creswell report.
There are several factors why the switch has not created significant savings, report authors said. Those factors include use of commercial record systems, slow rates of system adoption, and the fact that electronic records "do not address the fact that doctors and hospitals reap the benefits of high volumes of care," Abelson and Creswell report. (Read more)
The 2005 report predicted that widespread use of EHRs could save the U.S. health care system at least $81 billion a year. "But evidence of significant savings is scant, and there is increasing concern that electronic records have actually added to costs by making it easier to bill more for some services," Abelson and Creswell write. Health care costs have risen $800 billion since the 2005 report, according to federal data.
Authors of the new report, published in this month's issue of Health Affairs, said they didn't attach dollar amounts to how much electronic record keeping has helped or hurt efforts to reduce costs. "But the firm's acknowledgement that its earlier analysis was overly optimistic adds to a chorus of concern about the cost of the new systems and the haste with which they have been adopted," Abelson and Creswell report.
There are several factors why the switch has not created significant savings, report authors said. Those factors include use of commercial record systems, slow rates of system adoption, and the fact that electronic records "do not address the fact that doctors and hospitals reap the benefits of high volumes of care," Abelson and Creswell report. (Read more)
- Hospitals Are Not Reporting Cases Of Harm To Patients; Electronic Health Records May Be Key To Solving The Problem
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News Hospitals aren't reporting cases in which medical care harmed a patient, making it difficult for providers to identify problems and fix them, according to a report to be released by the U.S. Department of...
- Expect More Hospital Mergers Across The Country, Some With Unlikely Partners, Moody's Investors Service Report Predicts
Reflecting several hospital mergers that have already taken place in Kentucky, a new report from Moody's Investors Service predicts hospitals will continue to band together across the country as they respond to changes in health care. "The difficult...
- Electronic Patient Records May Not Save Money, Study Finds; Critics Question Methodology
Though officials tout otherwise, a study has found electronic health records do not cut costs "and may actually encourage doctors to order expensive tests more often," reports Steve Lohr for The New York Times. (Photo by Keith Srakocic for The Associated...
- Companies Partner To Accelerate Adoption Of Electronic Health Records In Rural Hospitals
Anthelio, a health information-technology support company, and Heartland, a hospital information-systems vendor, have partnered to speed up implementation of electronic health records at rural hospitals so the facilities can get federal incentives, reports...
- Electronic Health Records Are Helping Nurses Provide Better Care, Big Study Finds
Electronic health records are helping nurses get better health outcomes and are improving nursing care, the first big study on the subject has found. The study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing involved 16,000 nurses at 316...